I'm a singer and cook trapped in the body of an HR professional. Experimenting is the name of my game. What you'll find here is a mixed bag: a treasure trove of traditional and fusion foods, all with two common ingredients, enthusiasm and love.

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The Singing Chef

May 7, 2008

Cashew Vermicelli Kheer

I’ve talked earlier about my general dislike for payasam/kheer. Madgane, Badam Kheer and Rava Payasam are the few varieties I enjoy. But coconut milk kheers do not feature in Tamil festival menus (at least not in my house). So, if it isn’t badam kheer, then it has to be Semia (Vermicelli) Payasam. While I really like this payasam, S really loves it. I made it recently after a gap of some 18 months. The last time I made it was when we completed a month of marriage. We were not living together at the time as our jobs were in different cities and I happened to be in Gurgaon around then for some interviews.

I remember that day because it was terrible. I had specifically told the consultant that I wanted a job with normal working hours and that the worst case scenario would be one where I finish work by 9 p.m. The job I’d taken up in Bangalore required me to work at a different time each day of the week and since I had a personal compulsion to move to Bangalore, I accepted the job with every condition the company laid. I did not want to just accept any job that came my way in Gurgaon. I wanted a job with timings that would more or less coincide with S’s work timings. The two hour interview ended with a, “So, I am told you’re open to working till 1 a.m. twice or thrice a week.” I was seething inside. I spent my hard earned money to get on that flight and come to Gurgaon. I spent more money hiring a cab to ferry me to and from that interview. And I felt as though all of that was a total waste. I needed to do something to shake myself out of that lousy mood. So I made semia payasam. The only sweet dish I could make on a hot plate (we had no fridge, gas stove or microwave then). And the look of utter delight on S's face when he saw the payasam was enough to get me out of that lousy mood.

I will blog about the original recipe sometime later. The one all of us know and love. This payasam has a little twist in the tale. I did not add cashews and raisins fried in ghee to the dish. Instead, I added ground cashews to the dish.

1/4 cup Roasted Vermicelli

2 tbsp Cashews, ground

1/2 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milkmaid/Mithai Mate)

4-5 cups Milk (I used a litre)

½ tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)

½ tsp Cardamom Powder

Heat the ghee and roast the vermicelli for a couple of minutes. Add the milk to it and bring to a boil. Add the condensed milk to this. Keep stirring until the mixture is even (else you'll have burnt condensed milk). Add the ground cashews and the cardamom powder and simmer the mixture for about 10-15 minutes. It will begin to thicken nicely.

Serve hot or cold. This tastes heavenly either way. (The picture does it no justice!)

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About Me

I'm someone who loves to talk. About everything and nothing. Hours of discussions with friends, steaming hot mugs of coffee, arguments, laughter, talking about the old times, looking forward to the new... nothing makes me happier... ever!